Details
Ruben Santamarta notified Symantec that a Gear Software driver (GEARAspiWDM.Sys) distributed with several Symantec products could be used to allow a local attacker to run arbitrary code with SYSTEM rights on the local system.

Symantec Response
Symantec engineers confirmed that the issue exists in the drivers distributed with the products listed in the Affected Products table above. Gear Software has provided an updated driver to correct the problem. Norton 360 customers can obtain this update by running LiveUpdate. Customers who use other impacted products can get the update directly from the Gear website. Please refer to Obtaining the Update for additional information.

Symantec is not aware of any customers impacted by this issue, or of any attempts to exploit the issue.

Obtaining the Update
Norton 360 users who regularly launch and run LiveUpdate should automatically receive an updated (non-vulnerable) version of the affected driver. To ensure all available updates have been applied, users can run a manual LiveUpdate as follows:

Open any installed Norton product

Click LiveUpdate

Run LiveUpdate until all available product updates are downloaded and installed

Customers who are using other impacted products should download and apply the latest Gear driver from Gear Software’s web site:

Best Practices
Symantec recommends any affected customers update their product to protect against potential attempts to exploit this issue. As part of normal best practices, Symantec recommends the following:

Run under the principle of least privilege.

Restrict access to computer systems to trusted users only.

Keep all operating systems and applications updated with the latest vendor patches.

Follow a multi-layered approach to security. Run both firewall and antivirus software to provide multiple points of protection from inbound and outbound threats.

Credit
Symantec extends our thanks the following individuals and organizations for their assistance:

Symantec takes the security and proper functionality of our products very seriously. As founding members of the Organization for Internet Safety (OISafety), Symantec supports and follows the principles of responsible disclosure. Symantec also subscribes to the vulnerability disclosure guidelines outlined by the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC).

Please contact secure@symantec.com if you feel you have discovered a security issue in a Symantec product. A Symantec Product Security team member will contact you regarding your submission. Symantec strongly recommends using encrypted email for reporting vulnerability information to secure@symantec.com. The Symantec Product Security PGP key can be found at the end of this message.

Symantec has developed a Product Vulnerability Response document outlining the process we follow in addressing suspected vulnerabilities in our products. This document is available below.

Copyright (c) 2009 by Symantec Corp.
Permission to redistribute this alert electronically is granted as long as it is not edited in any way unless authorized by Symantec Security Response. Reprinting the whole or part of this alert in any medium other than electronically requires permission from secure@symantec.com.

Disclaimer
The information in the advisory is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing based on currently available information. Use of the information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are no warranties with regard to this information. Neither the author nor the publisher accepts any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage arising from use of, or reliance on, this information.

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